Book Review: Mother: Ecstasy, Transformation and the Great Goddess| by Levi Rowland

If a book written by a man about worshipping the Great Goddess as “Mother” isn’t unique enough, Levi Rowland is also a priest (of a tradition of witchcraft) and avid devotee to Her.  As such, this book is not “how to” manual. It is a much needed “why to” - why we need to bring the Divine Feminine back into our consciousness in ways that stand alongside religious and spiritual comparison.

Levi introduces the reader to the concept of Goddess theology, showing what it means to be a devotee, from the historical perspective, drawing upon knowledge of Mystery cults and even using other traditions, such as Shaktism for example, as a comparison to help guide the modern Western reader to points that he is making. 

The Goddess the Levi re-introduces to us is no “Jesus figure in a dress”, with patriarchal concepts under a veneer of feel good matriarchy. He writes about the Great Goddess, the creatrix of all, the Mother who birthed the cosmos and all that resides within, including our own selves.  This Goddess is no Barbie doll, sugar and spice – while she may be the queen of heaven, she equally is also the queen of hell.  This is because in the truest sense of things, the Goddess, as Mother, is all things including that which shakes us to our core in order to transform us.

And Levi does not shy away from the darkness which the Mother brings.  He is brutally honest, opening up and sharing a number of poignant memories from his own personal journey, of his coming home to the Mother.

In a world that tends to be focused on window dressing spirituality, of moon manifesting without true desire and spell casting without consequences, Mother: Ecstasy, Transformation and the Great Goddess by Levi Rowland shows the reader how true transformation can occur and divine ecstasy is received when one connects with the Great Mother.

You can check out my longer video review on my YouTube channel below:

Conclusion: Highly Recommended

Published by Warlock Press, 2023
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1733246673
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1733246675

Autumn and the Beauty of Mother Earth

As the chill of Autumn can be felt here in South Australia, recently I ventured to a local botanical garden so that I could sink down into Mother Earth while She draws life back into her darkened womb. In the stillness of nature offers a wonderful gift to unplug of the stress filled demands of modern-day life and to simply be.

Around me the elemental building blocks of the cosmos were at play during this time of transformation.  As the wind danced amongst the branches, it toyed with the leaves in their brilliant scarlet and oranges, teasing them to join the downward flutter to Mother Earth who was waiting beneath, in wide receiving abundance. 

Those leaves whose energy had now been spent, formed a carpet where they would gradual be relieved for the last ounces of chlorophyll before gradually decaying and dissolving back into her often with soaking precipitation that cleansed all from the dusty memory of the hot summer.  Yet above me, the once fiery, passionate sun was determined not to succumb to a mere memory, as it continued to stir the life force energy below.

As I breathed in the coolness of the air, I wondered what I could release from my own self, what needed to decay, to be dissolved, to be repurposed into something more beneficial.  Often our modern lives impact so much upon us that we forget about our innate connection with nature. We overlook the realisation that it is not something separate from us but indeed part of us. 

Amongst our concrete and airconditioned lives, we shy from the sensation of the elements upon us, perceiving them as more of a discomfort than anything meaningful.  Yet, despite our attempts to disassociate ourselves from the natural world, the truth remains – we are nature.

• When was the last time you stopped and contemplated the role that the elements play within your life?

• How connected are you with the elemental forces that are around us as well as within in each and every one of us?

In a world focused on instant gratification and manifestation of results, allowing ourselves the time and space to “be” with the elements, to contemplate their interplay with our own selves, as well as being able to use them to deepen our perception into this reality (and beyond), I personally believed that such work is needed more than ever – if only because of the benefits it has on our mental health and sense of connectiveness in an ever-increasing disconnected world.

• Spend some time meditating on each of the elements in turn, using physical items in your practice if need be (a feather for air, a seashell for water, a candle for fire and a bowl of dirt for earth).

• As you go about your daily business, consider the roles that the elements play.

Remember, we are not separate from the earth, from nature – we are very much part of it – and it is of us.

The Jupiter-Uranus Conjunction in April 2024

On Saturday, 20 April 2024 Jupiter and Uranus will be conjunct at 21° 49’ of Taurus.  Jupiter has long been known as the Great Benefic, the planet of expansion and protection, whereas Uranus is the rebel, who pushes the boundaries and causes change to occur. 

During previous conjunctions rebellions have occurred as well as huge advances in technology. 

With this conjunction occurring in the earth sign of Taurus, what expansive changes could be brought into our physical reality, our lives and our planet?

I share some insights about this conjunction in my latest video that can be found here.

☆ A Witchy Tale for the Season ☆

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Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a small village high in the mountains in Italy there lived an old woman named La Befana. The local villages thought she was a witch for she preferred to spend her time alone and indeed, her simple cottage was on the edge of a dark forest.

La Befana did not look like a witch. She had not a magical wand, nor did she wear a black, pointed hat. But she did have a cat that was as black as coal, and she also had an old broomstick that was fashioned from the branch of a yew tree, the witch's tree, as gnarled and bent as she was.

The villagers whispered to each other what regardless of whether it was day or night, if you passed her cottage, you would see La Befana sweeping with her yew broom, sweeping the inside of her cottage and sweeping the outside of her cottage. She would sweep in circles, often as if she was in a trance, and if you watched her too long, it was said that you too would fall into a trance for the words she mutters contain all forms of magical powers.

When La Befana heard these whispers, she would simply smile. Sweeping, after all, was an ancient magic, passed down to her from her mother, her mother's mother, and even her mother's mother's mother. The magic the villagers whispered about was also found in the broom for it removed not only the dust and dirt brought into the house from our adventures in the outer world, but they also capture the feelings and emotional entanglements we collect unknowingly, or the unspoken conversations that swirl inside our minds but are never spoken.

Still, La Befana swept her circles, inside her house and out. And as her broom swished and swirled about, she muttered a chant under her breath:

“Sweep, sweep around about
All good stay in and all bad stay out.
I remove all harm, and banish all pain
For only peace and good shall remain.”

​
Such a powerful incantation this was and her little cottage deep on the edge of the forest was know far and wide as being free from the grime of the outside world and shimmering with magic.

As the story goes, early one evening after solstice as La Befana stirred her supper over a crackling fire, there was an unusual knock upon her door. When she opened it, she found three strangers, dressed in apparel from faraway lands, seeking directions to locate the Child of the Sun. She provided them food and shelter, and they invited her to join them in their search for this special child. However, La Befana declined, saying she had too much sweeping to do.

Later that night, she was awoken by the brightest of lights - a sign, she decided, to follow the strangers in their search for the special child. However, much time had passed and La Befana was not able to locate the strangers from the faraway lands, nor the place where the special child was said to have been born.

Yet, this did not deter La Befana, and it is said that even to this day, she takes to the skies on her broom made of yew and resumes to search for the special child. As she travels from house to house, the villagers wait in anticipation for she is said to leave treats to sleeping children in the hope that the Child of the Sun might also be with them.

Hail to the Sun

O hail to the Solar King
The fiery monarch of the sun.
He who is the Great Revealer and Bestower of Enlightened thought.
The one of the sacred light that gilds the forest leaves with gold, and of everlasting dreams.
Upon your sacred enchanted harp comes the music of the heart, the deepest of all love.
For you are the Great Poet, and the eternal lover.
O hail, Apollo.
O hail, Helios.
O hail, Ra.
O hail, Lugh.

O hail, he who sparks the seeds of the Earth to life again.

Honouring the Sun at Solstice

Did you realise that our planet is "heliotropic", that it turns toward the light?

This word is often more commonly used to describe the seasonal motion of plants in response to the direction of the sun, however, when we look at the intimate relationship between our planet and the sun, our nearest star, the same can be applied.

The solstices (along with the equinoxes) are naturally occurring earth holy days, so to speak, existing for as long as the earth have evolved around the sun. As we approach the time of the solstice, I am wondering whether this is yet another cosmic connection that our ancestors were deeply aware of with there being many megalithic structures still standing today aligned with either the summer or the winter solstice.

One such structure that stands out for me is Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú) in Count Meath, Ireland that is aligned with the death and rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice. Built at least some 5,200 years old, this passage tomb was constructed with a roof box above the doorway which channels the fragile rays of the returning sun down the passage in the tomb to illuminate the chamber every year on the winter solstice.  CLICK HERE to watch a  video produced by the Office of Public Works that captures this amazing occurrence:

Indeed, in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time to commune with the solar energy, and all the potential that is waiting within, in order to lighten up the dark winter months.

South of the equator, it is the zenith of the sun, when it is most potent, that we are heading towards, when the hours of daylight between sunrise and sunset are at their longest. Here in Adelaide, there will be some 14 1/2 hours of sunlight on the 22nd December (the time of the solstice).

While the solstices mark the midpoint in the earth's journey around the sun, it can take up to six weeks before we feel the effects. In fact, for me the summer solstice often heralds in a reminder that the worse of the summer's heat is yet to come as February is often our hottest month, almost distracting us from the reduction of the sunlight hours. The local Kaurna people referred to hottest and driest months of the year a "Warltati" where they would move to the coast, taking advantage of the sea breeze. This is something that many of us continue to do today despite living in our airconditioned homes.

Regardless of where we live, it is acknowledged that without the warmth and light of the sun, there would simply be no life on earth. In fact, we receive so much from the sun that, like our ancestors, the solstice offers us an opportunity to focus on what we have in our lives, to show gratitude and to give thanks. With this in mind, I thought I would share the following adorations to the sun that was inspired by the ​Liber Resh vel Helios​ ritual, and where we allow ourselves to focus on incorporating the attributes of the sun in our daily lives.

DAILY SOLAR PRACTICE

Upon rising, face East and bring your awareness to your heart centre, your inner golden sun, and say:

Hail to the Returning Light May the power of the sun flow through me this day Empowering me in all that I do.

At noon, face the North (if you live south of the equator) or the South (if you live north of the equator), again bring your awareness to your heart centre, and say:

Hail to the Triumphant Light Shining its splendour on the world Revealing the beauty within and without me.

At sunset, face the West, bring your awareness to your heart centre, and say:

Hail to the Descending Light Offering reflection upon the world Allowing me to be grateful in my ways.

Before retiring for the night, face the South (if you live south of the equator) or the North (if you live north of the equator), again bring your awareness to your heart centre, and say:

Hail to the Light at Rest The revealer of the unseen realms Enabling me to integrate all that I have received this day.

Preparation for the Time of "Even Light"

There are four portals that occur throughout the solar year that mark pivotal placements in the relationship between the sun and our planet. The two solstices mark the solar standstill, a pregnant pause that occurs when the solar energies have either reached their peak as part of the earth is has reached its closest point to the sun, or the trough, when part of the earth is furthest away. The other two pivotal placements are the midpoints between the two, heralding the time of the equinoxes.

Next week this is where we will find ourselves, at the time of “even light” (as equinox come from the Latin meaning “equal night”), at the spring equinox here in the Southern Hemisphere, or the autumn equinox if you reside north of the equator.

Leading up to these pivotal timings, our inner biology changes on a deeper cellular level for the approaching season. As this occurs, even for the briefest moments, our own personal energetics come into alignment with those of Mother Earth. We are provided with a unique opportunity to deepen the alignment of our subtle energetic fields to the turning of the seasonal wheel, utilising its ebbing and flowing nature.

National Geographic has described the equinoxes as “Two times a year, Earth’s orbit and its axial tilt combine so that the sun sits right above Earth’s Equator, casting the dividing line between the light and dark parts of the planet - the twilight zone - through the North and South Poles. Earth isn’t the only planet that experiences equinoxes: every planet in our solar system has them.”

The timing of the equinox has long been considered to be a magical portal due to it being a time of deep transformation, the alchemical process of turning one thing into something else. In County Meath, Ireland, some 5,000 years ago our distant ancestors constructed the Cairn of the Cailleach (“Cairn T”), a sacred mound and stone passageway aligned exactly to the spring and the autumn equinox. Only at dawn on these special days, a single ray of sunlight pierces the dark, womb-like passageway and lights up the “Equinox Stone” positioned at the end of the chamber and engraved with talismanic glyphs. This barrow was also called the Cairn of the Hag, or the Womb of Cailleach, and was believed to have been modelled on the architecture of the female vulva-womb-pregnant stomach, fertilized by the energy of the sun. It was rebirth technology.

Inside Cairn T at Louchcrew, Co. Meath, Ireland

Today, this extraordinary moment goes by almost completely unnoticed. Surrounded by artificial lighting and the seemingly endless glow from mobile phones and computer screens, the equinox seems to hold little meaning. The more we separate our lives from the natural ebbing and flowing of nature, the more we separate our own selves from the very root that brings life and provides us with healing and regeneration.

Regardless of whether you find yourself at the gateway to the warmer summer months with lengthening light and increased abundance, or the approach of winter with the approaching darkness and time for rest and retreat, there are a number of simple ways that you can realign yourself to the sacredness of this pivotal time.

• For three days before the equinox, spend around 15 minutes absorbing the energy from the early morning sun. As you do, visualise your entire body (including your energetic field) being regenerated by the light. If you are not able to get outside, then stand by a window that faces the morning sun to receive the light that way.

• For three days before equinox, spend around 15 minutes in the evening, greeting the night as the sun fades. Close your eyes and allow your body to sense the feeling of night.

• After sunset dim down and turn off bright lights in your home.

• If you are able to, attempt to switch off your mobile telephone and computer after 8pm.

• Turn on blue light blocking mode (night shift) on iPhone and Android phones which can be found through your phone settings.

As the ever changing patterns of light and darkness act as master regulators of not only our human physiology, but also our states of spiritual connection and awareness, this means that during the portal of the equinox, our bodies prepare themselves to receive either the increased abundance of summer (in the Southern Hemisphere) or deep regeneration and cell dreaming of winter (in the Northern Hemisphere). In other words, we are truly alchemists of both dark and light.

✨ Get Ready for a Time of Abundance

If you feel like you are still processing the effects of the recent full moon lunar eclipse, then hang in there - the eclipse was rather intense, especially with astrological points possibly being triggered such as the South Node (which relates to our past actions or karma), not to mention it being opposite Uranus, a planet connected with producing outcomes that may not be what we anticipated to them to being.

✨On 16th May Jupiter (the Great Benefic) enters Taurus. This transit is considered to be one of the more important ones happening this year as it could very well indicate that something in your life is about the change. To get a better idea of what this “something” is, look at what house is ruled by Jupiter in your natal chart (you can get a free one from (Astro Dienst, Cafe Astrology, etc) to get an idea of what see what area of your life could be effected.

As Jupiter is the planet of growth, expansion and abundance, the sign it transits through indicates that where we want to experience growth and abundance. With Taurus being connected with material possessions, financial growth and the desire for comfort and stability, Jupiter in Taurus may encourage us to take practical steps towards achieving goals, especially in relation to finances, material stability and personal values.

✨Jupiter’s ingress into Taurus resulted in it being squared to Pluto at 0 degrees of Aquarius. As mentioned above, Jupiter is the planet of expansion whereas Pluto is connected with transformation. When planets are square to each other, this can be rather intense as it indicates change. Consider your desire for material growth with respect to your spiritual transformation and transcendence. Are your goals a reflection of your highest truth, or ego consciousness?

Keep in mind that sometimes we reject material abundance due to personal limiting beliefs and a scarcity mindset, or the perception that status symbols are merely a compensation for a lack of self-worth. As such, Pluto maybe asking you to consider your perceptions and beliefs around personal values, and in particular, those related to material abundance.

✨Finally, on 20th May here in Adelaide (or earlier on 19th depending on where you live in the world) we have a new moon in Taurus (at 28 degrees). This new moon is rather auspicious due to it being in harmonious aspects with Mars (in Leo), Neptune (in Pisces) and Pluto (in Aquarius). With Mars entering Leo, you will find it easier to connect with your heart centre (anahata) and as such, act from a place of truth and authenticity, making it easier to feel like you are more in tune with life. I will be making available a video about this upcoming new moon in my YouTube channel soon.

Spiritual Power — Illusions and Reality

Healing, magic, mind over matter, invoking the gods, ancestors, or higher consciousness - they all are, have been, and probably will continue to be a part of our eternal quest to understand the workings of the cosmos and how much we actually control ourselves.

Since the beginning of time on this physical earth plane of existence, we human have reached for a higher spiritual power to work on our behalf, or for others.  Many have even noticed that there have been times when this higher power does not seem to work in ways that were anticipated.  Was this a case of the incorrect prayer or incantation being used? Where the planets not in alignment? Maybe the higher power was uninterested or displeased with the offering being made?

Even in our modern high-tech world today, prayers for health, healing, prosperity, love, and other humanistic needs and desires are not all answered?  Are some prayers chosen or favoured while others are not?  Is it a matter of good or bad karma, the wrong ancestor or religion, or the wrong slant on spirituality?

Regardless of what you believe personally, no one has any extra or special spiritual power going for them, despite what they might imagine from their false sense of personal ego identity.  Spiritual power that is active in anyone’s life is available only when the personal ego is not trying to influence it.

In ego-conscious human reality, all may seem possible in regard to spiritual power as harnessed or brought about through many diverse forms of spiritual practice.  While it is true that prayers or other spiritual practices seem to be answered, however, is this not an aspect of human consciousness perceiving it as such in order to gain a connection with the greater cosmos?

In actual reality, human consciousness, as it is currently collectively awakened in the mass of humanity, is not capable of influencing spiritual power.  If it were, the entirety of the universe would be one gigantic cosmic mess — one explosion after another as human beings in their present states of consciousness attempt to influence and find balance within the energy forces of nature on an universal scale.

Anyone who is at a deep level of spiritual slumber, though they may seem to be awake, may believe that even if they cannot invoke spiritual power themselves, there are others who can.  And certainly there are those who are lined up and ready to fulfill that fantasy, either for their own personal good or in some way to satisfy their own self-delusions of spiritual power at their disposal. 

Albert Schweitzer once say, in relation to healing in the practice of medicine:  “The role of the physician is to amuse the patient long enough to give nature the time to do the actual healing.”  Indeed, from a more metaphysical view point, ultimately it is nature (the cosmos) that does the bottom-line healing.  Inn such examples, the role of a spiritual healer, therefore, is to give hope to the person in need of healing until the higher forces (whatever tern you would like to ruse) actually does the healing — be it instantaneous or over a period of seeming time.  That is if a healing is to take place, whether through medical or spiritual practice.

What needs to be remembered is that spiritual power, or in the case above, spiritual healing, will manifest on its own terms and through its own desired results - these could actually be completely different to our ego-centric assumptions and expectations.

In the song “Que sera, sera” there are the lyrics, “Whatever will be, will be.”  Add to this phrase the words, “for it already is.” There are times when we simply need to let go of our expectations and truly trust in the higher powers of the universe, whether we perceive them as ancestors, spiritual guides, deities or our higher consciousness. Have faith in your belief in these higher energies for they are your connection to the spiritual power. If you do not believe in an external source, then that is perfectly fine as well. We are, after all, all connected to the same cosmos regardless of how we may individually perceive it to be.